The DH requires that, for applications
submitted from 1st April 2007, electronic copies of any research papers
that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal (or
final reports and / or executive summaries) which are supported in
whole or in part by DH funding, are deposited at the earliest
opportunity ¿ and in any case within six months – in UK PubMed Central (UKPMC).

Deposition
of a research paper, final report or executive summary into UKPMC does
not prevent authors from also depositing a copy in the institutional or
another subject-based repository should they choose to do so or be
required to do so by their employing institution.

The DH also
strongly encourages, but does not formally oblige, all grant recipients
to deposit articles arising from grants awarded as a result of
applications submitted before 1st April 2007.

The DH strongly
encourages authors to publish in journals that allow them (or their
institutions) to retain ownership of the copyright.

If
author/institution-ownership of copyright is not permitted by the
publisher, authors should publish in journals that permit deposition
of…the published paper in UKPMC within six months of publication.

The
DH will work with publishers to put in place mechanisms for publishers
to deposit publications directly, on behalf of authors, where this is
possible….

The DH’s grant conditions are consistent with this approach and do not require amendment….

Where researchers inform the NIHR [National
Institute for Health Research] of their wish to publish a paper in a
journal that is unwilling to agree either to
author/institution-ownership of copyright, or to deposition in UKPMC
within six months, the NIHR may grant permission for authors to submit
the paper for publication in such a journal.

Authors will
benefit in two ways. Firstly, their papers will be given a much wider
form of dissemination and will be able to be read without restriction
by anyone with internet access. Secondly, as researchers they will
increasingly be able to search the full text of all the research
published in their area, not just the research available to them via
the subscriptions their institution offers.

All members of the UKPMC Funders Group have now announced official policies requiring recipients to deposit research articles in UKPMC, with the exception of Cancer Research UK whose policy is currently under review.